Rhode Island

R.I. coastal regulators order country club to take down the seawall it built without permission – The Boston Globe

Published

6 months ago

June 12, 2025

R.I. coastal regulators order country club to take down the seawall it built without permission – The Boston Globe

The Quidnessett Country Club had asked the agency to change the classification of waters at the seawall from Type 1 “conservation areas” to Type 2 “low-intensity use,” saying it had built the wall to protect the 14th hole of its golf course from erosion. But in January, the council voted 6 to 0 to reject a petition to reclassify those waters.

And on Tuesday evening, the council voted 6 to 0 to require the removal of the 600-foot-long wall — technically called a riprap revetment — within 120 days. The council called for the country club to submit an “acceptable restoration plan” within 30 days, and to then complete the restoration within 90 days.

Janice Mathews, vice president of The Jan Companies, which owns the Quidnessett Country Club, said the club will attempt to agree on a restoration plan with the CRMC staff that would not require cutting into the golf course. “We are still trying to work it out,” she said.

Topher Hamblett, executive director of Save the Bay, said, “We support the staff’s recommendation and the council’s decision to remove the unauthorized wall, restore the function of the coastal feature, and undo the harm caused.”

But, he said, “By entertaining the water-type change petition in the first place, the politically appointed council has aided Quidnessett Country Club’s efforts to circumvent the law.”

Also, Jed Thorp, Save the Bay’s director of advocacy, said the environmental group is concerned that removal of the wall could be furthered delayed.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the club’s attorney, former council chairwoman Jennifer Cervenka, asked the council to assign the enforcement action to a hearing officer, saying such a step is required in contested cases.

But Coastal Resources Management Council executive director Jeffrey Willis said the club has never disputed the charges that it built the seawall without authorization, removed vegetation at the site, or filled tidal waters.

“We don’t believe this is a contested matter at all,” Willis said. “We actually think it’s a pretty straight-forward matter.”

Cervenka disagreed, saying the vegetation was destroyed by storms, not by the club. Also, she said the club disputes the place at which the agency wants the restoration to take place. She said the proposed line — the “toe of the berm” — would force the club to cut into the golf course, which she said predates the rules the agency is trying to enforce.

“That is material and affects our property rights,” Cervenka said. “The council does not now have jurisdiction to consider this contested enforcement proceeding.”

The council’s attorney, Anthony DeSisto, disagreed. “The issue is the wall itself,” he said, “and there is no contest that wall was constructed without permission.”

The council voted against sending the matter to a hearing officer, suggesting the club would finalize restorations plans with CRMC staff.

But Cervenka said she doubts the dispute over where the restoration line begins can be resolved with staff, and she maintained that a hearing officer should weigh in. “It’s very procedurally unusual, and I don’t think it is appropriate,” she said.

That prompted the council’s newest member, Dr. Michael A. Reuter, to tell Cervenka, “All due respect, building what you did is also procedurally inappropriate, so let’s not split hairs over it,” he said.

Save the Bay said it’s concerned that if a court later determines that a hearing officer was required, that “will not only cause another delay that perpetuates the loss of public access along the shoreline and harm to the coastal ecosystem, it will prove to be yet another example of the council not following its own rules.”

“Enforcing Rhode Island’s coastal laws should not be complicated, and certainly not for such a blatant and admitted violation as Quidnessett Country Club’s illegal wall,” Save the Bay said in a statement. “Removing the agency’s redundant layer of the politically appointed council will streamline coastal enforcement cases like these and move our state forward in efficiently and effectively managing and protecting our coastal resources.”

The General Assembly is entering the final days of the 2025 legislative session. During a budget briefing, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said no money has been budgeted for changing the current structure of the Coastal Resources Management Council. He said legislation calling to overhaul the council remains alive, but neither the House nor the Senate has voted that legislation out of committee.

Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.

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Rhode Island

The top returning girls wrestlers? Here are 10 to watch this season

Published

2 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

The top returning girls wrestlers? Here are 10 to watch this season

Girls wrestling took off last winter in its second year of state championships.

Exactly 50 participants, across a dozen weight classes, competed in the March extravaganza at the Providence Career and Technical Academy. Each weight class was contested, unlike the first year of the tournaments, and new title winners were crowned.

Pilgrim’s Allison Patten was named Most Outstanding Wrestler for her win at 107. The Patriots’ star also finished runner-up at the New England Championships and is among this year’s returnees. But who else should we be keeping an eye on this winter?

Here are 10 standouts who we think might shine this year.

Enjoy!

Athletes listed in alphabetical order.

Yasmin Bido, Hope

Senior

Bido snagged her first individual crown with a 16-0 decision at 152 pounds. The Blue Wave grappler also finished runner-up at 165 in Year 1 of the tournament.

Irie Byers, North Kingstown

Sophomore

Byers stormed onto the scene with a title in her first year on the mat. She captured the 120-pound championship with an 11-1 win in the finals. The Skipper returnee is one of a few wrestlers who could repeat.

Jolene Cole, Scituate

Sophomore

Cole helped Scituate to the team title in the first year that the award was handed out. Scituate is a bit of a girls wrestling factory, and Cole added to that lineage with her pin at 114 pounds.

Alei Fautua, North Providence

Sophomore

Fautua breezed to the title at 235 pounds with a pin in just 25 seconds. She led the Cougars to a runner-up finish as a team as Scituate edged the Cougars by just seven points. Fautua then finished fourth at the New England championships.

Kamie Hawkins, Exeter-West Greenwich

Junior

This year is all about redemption for Hawkins. She was one of the first state champions and came back last year looking to defend her 120-pound title. It wasn’t meant to be, but make no mistake, Hawkins is one of the state’s best.

Abigail Otte, Exeter-West Greenwich

Junior

Otte was a repeat champion at 138 pounds as she seized the title with a pin in 24 seconds. It’s likely a safe bet that Otte might capture her third crown in three years.

Allison Patten, Pilgrim

Junior

A repeat season isn’t out of the question for Patten. She won the 107 pound title with a pin in 49 seconds. What’s next for the junior? End the season with a New England title, too.

Chloe Ross, Scituate

Sophomore

It was quite the debut for Ross. The state crown was a breeze as the freshman won via pin in 1:16. But then came the New England tournament where the Spartan star snagged second place. Might there be a different ending to her season this year?

Meili Shao, La Salle

Senior

Shao was one of the first wrestling champions when she captured the 132 title two seasons ago. A repeat crown wasn’t in the cards as she finished runner-up in the class. But the Ram has returned and could be out to avenge last year’s finish.

Emily Youboty, Hope

Senior

The Blue Wave wrestler is the returning 100-pound winner after she captured the crown with a 19-3 technical fall victory in last season’s title meet.

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Rhode Island

Thieves steal $470K worth of electrical wire from Rhode Island highways

Published

14 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Thieves steal 0K worth of electrical wire from Rhode Island highways

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is facing a costly and dangerous problem after thieves stole roughly 11 miles of electrical wire from highways across the state, leaving long stretches of road without lighting and drivers at risk.

RIDOT spokesperson Charles St. Martin said there have been at least 16 thefts in recent weeks, mostly in Providence, but also in Cranston, Johnston and Warwick. The agency first realized something was wrong after drivers began calling to report unusually dark sections of highway.

“Right now, about 16 sites or so around the Providence Metro area down into Cranston and Warwick and Johnston that we have different lengths of highway where the lights are out,” St. Martin said in an interview with NBC10.

Cars driving on the highway with no overhead lights. (WJAR)

St. Martin says thieves accessed underground electrical systems through manholes, cutting and removing large quantities of wire.

RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, speaking on WPRO Radio with NBC10’s Gene Valicenti, said the scale of the problem is staggering and growing.

“You would not believe how many locations throughout the state that we are experiencing the theft of our underground electric cables,” Alviti said. “They’re pulling it out and then selling it for scrap to make money.”

The thefts pose serious safety risks. St. Martin said the suspects are cutting into live electrical wires leaving drivers to navigate dark highways and roads.

The cost to taxpayers is also significant. According to RIDOT, the stolen wire alone carries a material cost of about $470,000, not including labor to reinstall it.

“When you just look at the amount of wire that we are talking about that we are missing now, it is about 11 miles worth of wire,” St. Martin said. “Just the material cost about $470,000.”

RIDOT says it will likely take several weeks to fully restore lighting along impacted highways, including I-195, I-295, Route 37, Route 10 and Route 6. The agency plans to install heavier, anti-theft manhole covers in the coming months and is working with state and local police to identify those responsible.

Drivers like Perry Cornell say the outages make already challenging roads even more dangerous.

“Dangerous,” Cornell said when asked how it feels driving through dark stretches of highway. “It’s unsafe.”

Lights off on the highway. (WJAR)

Cornell said the situation raises questions about whether more could have been done to prevent the thefts.

“Why wasn’t this stopped and why wasn’t there a preventative action taken by RIDOT to stop this from continuing to happen?” he asked.

RIDOT is asking the public to remain vigilant. Anyone who sees suspicious activity near highway manholes is urged to contact local police immediately.

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Rhode Island

Former Pawtucket police officer pleads no contest to DUI, disorderly conduct – The Boston Globe

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Former Pawtucket police officer pleads no contest to DUI, disorderly conduct – The Boston Globe

Dolan was also ordered to pay a $100 fine, and has completed community service and a driving while impaired course, the records show. Dolan previously lost his license for three months.

“This plea was the culmination of two years of hard work and negotiations by both sides, resulting in a reasonable, fair, and equitable resolution which allows all concerned to move forward,” Michael J. Colucci, an attorney representing Dolan, said in a statement.

Dolan was arrested and charged in September 2023 in Coventry, where he also allegedly threatened to shoot police officers.

A felony charge of threatening public officials was downgraded to the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge on Wednesday, according to court records. A third charge of reckless driving and other offenses against public safety was dismissed.

Dolan resigned from the police department in November 2023 while the City of Pawtucket was attempting to fire him. He was acquitted by a jury earlier that year after he shot a teenager in 2021 while off-duty that summer outside a pizza restaurant in West Greenwich.

Dolan, who had an open container of beer in his truck at the time, had argued he pursued the teen and his friends after seeing them speeding on Route 95. The group of teens saw him coming at them in the parking lot of Wicked Good Pizza and tried to drive away, while Dolan claimed he wanted to have a “fatherly chat” and shot at them fearing he was going to be hit by their car.

The teen driver, Dominic Vincent, of West Greenwich, was shot in the upper arm.

In 2022, Dolan was also charged with domestic disorderly conduct and domestic vandalism after he allegedly grabbed his 10-year-old son by the neck and threw him outside, according to an affidavit by Coventry police supporting an arrest warrant.

Then, while the children were in the car with his wife, Dolan was accused of throwing a toy truck at the vehicle and breaking the windshield, according to the affidavit. The domestic case against Dolan was dismissed about a week after it was filed, per court records.

Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report. This story has been updated to include comment from Michael Colucci.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.

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